Getting Inside the Public's Head

There are more than enough doomsayers predicting the apocalypse for
public schools. We won't join them. We would, however, suggest that
these are precarious times. We believe that education leaders need to
better understand the attitudes of Americans toward the schools. And
they need to act with that in mind.

We are a team of communicators and pollsters from three separate
companies who have worked with the education reform community often
over the past decade. We are parents and grandparents who care about
schools and want to help, but we do not have our own agenda. We are
Democrats and Republicans. We help educators and policymakers
understand their audiences in order to build public support.

For nearly a year, polls have
consistently showed that improving schools is the premier public
concern, ahead of reducing crime, cutting taxes, or dealing with the
economy. That often has been put in the "good news" category--"ah, the
public is finally paying attention to our problems."

Indeed, many segments of the public are paying attention, and that
is why the nation's politicians are paying attention, too.

We have found that the public strongly believes that schools can
improve. But we also have found a growing level of public skepticism
over whether schools will improve, particularly whether schools will
produce anywhere near the kinds of changes that the politicians and
reformers usually promise. And without improvements, that skepticism is
turning into a belief that the schools, quite simply, have failed. Let
us offer some data.

Nearly two years ago, we surveyed 2,700 parents in selected cities
and states for the Education Commission of the States. We asked them
this question: Which point of view comes closest to your own?

Some people believe only a complete top-to-bottom overhaul of our
public schools will improve the quality of education for our
kids.

Others believe the present system in our public schools just
needs some minor tuning to improve the quality of education.

Still others think we should just leave the public schools
alone.

Only 5 percent of these parents said "leave the schools alone," 52
percent said "minor adjustments," and 41 percent said "total overhaul."
The data were from parents only and not nationally representative, but
we found similar results when we did a statewide poll of 2,200
California residents (not just parents) in 1996. Our advice to our
clients was not to try to decipher what people believed to be the
difference between minor adjustments and complete overhaul but to
understand that almost everyone believes that something should be
done.

Last month, in a new national poll of 1,000 registered voters, we
tried the same question with a twist. We added a fourth option that
read: "Public schools have failed to meet students' needs and a new
approach with home-schooling and vouchers for private and parochial
schools should be given a chance."

The results: 29 percent said minor adjustments, 27 percent said
total overhaul, 29 percent said schools have failed, and 9 percent said
leave the schools alone.

That is nearly three people in 10 saying schools have failed, with
another quarter saying the schools should be completely overhauled.

So who are these people who are ready to give up on public schools?
Some might assume that the majority are taxpayers whose children are
out of school or who don't have children--people without much of an
apparent stake in schools. Wrong. Actually, this group of three in 10
includes slightly more parents than nonparents.

The public's evaluation of public school performance is not
one-dimensional; people focus on far more than test scores or
standards.

Mostly men? Wrong. Women are slightly more likely than men to say the
schools have failed and that it is time for a new approach that
includes home-schooling and vouchers.

Senior citizens? Wrong. Men and women under age 45 are much more
likely to say schools have failed than those older than 45.

More urban than rural? Wrong. Voters in rural areas are slightly
more likely to say schools have failed than their counterparts in large
or medium cities, suburbs, or even small towns.

This group of three in 10 is more likely to be Republican, more
likely to describe themselves as very conservative, and more likely to
attend church more than once a week.

One key lesson here: The public is by no means monolithic. That may
seem obvious, but we make this point because it has been our experience
that education leaders often treat the public as a single entity. They
produce one set of materials for "the public," and, if they subdivide
the public at all, it is to treat parents differently from other
members of the community.

Educators would do well to understand how various parts of their
many publics feel about the schools. The purpose is not to pander to
particular audiences but to understand where to start the conversations
about better schools.

One of the most powerful ways for education leaders to engage their
publics is by asking the question: "What would you need to see that
would indicate schools are getting better?"

The answer is: Lots of things. Our polls and focus groups have told
us that changes in many things--from test scores and graduation rates
to the level of engagement of children and their parents to safety and
smaller classes--could signal the public that schools are on the right
path. The public's evaluation of public school performance is not
one-dimensional; people focus on far more than test scores or
standards.

In our national poll of voters last month, we asked which of four
things would tell voters that schools in their area were improving. The
results: 37 percent said more parents personally involved in their
child's education; 23 percent said increases in quantitative measures
such as test scores and graduation rates; 19 percent said higher
academic-performance standards; and 9 percent said improved safety and
fewer discipline problems.

In the same poll, when we suggested that major changes were possible
and asked respondents to pick the one they would like to see
implemented first, 25 percent picked teaching students values such as
tolerance, respect, and self-discipline; 23 percent picked raising
academic requirements and standards so students must prove themselves
in order to graduate or advance a grade; 23 percent picked moving
beyond the basics to also teach problem-solving skills and teamwork;
and 22 percent picked requiring parents to take a more active role in
the academic portion of their children's education.

Essentially, we found all four ideas equally popular. The lesson
here is that people recognize that many improvements are needed. To be
sure, these are forced choices. It obviously is possible to do these
things in combination. But the results are instructive. It is also
instructive to look inside these answers.

For example, when we looked at the choices made by the three in 10
who said schools have failed and who are ready to try home-schooling
and vouchers, we find that they are more likely to say teach values and
raise standards and slightly less likely to say require parental
involvement or teach problem-solving skills. If we examine the results
by educational levels, college graduates are most likely to say raise
standards, while those with only a high school diploma or less are most
likely to say teach values.

Listening to the many publics who care about public schools is
important. But we do not believe that education leaders should simply
blow with the public wind.

Instead, we think it imperative that those who care about the
survival and improvement of the public schools understand what their
publics believe and expect from the schools. This kind of strategic
listening is a necessary first step in re-engaging the majority of
Americans who are increasingly disenchanted with the public
schools--and who are running out of patience.

Nancy Belden is a public opinion analyst and partner at the firm of
Belden & Russonello in Washington. Vince Breglio is a public
opinion analyst and head of the firm Research/Strategy/Management in
Rockville, Md. Adam Kernan-Schloss and Andy Plattner are the
co-founders of A-Plus Communications in Arlington, Va.

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